Moonlight Maid sinks

F/V MOONLIGHT MAID sank the night of September 20 in Resurrection Bay. Wooden hulled, 110-foot MOONLIGHT MAID was once a World War II sub chaser, SC 536, serving in the South Pacific. After the war, she was sold and used for fishing.

A crewmember of MOONLIGHT MAID radioed the Coast Guard at 9:01 p.m. that they were taking on water. He reported they’d lost their generator and were using flashlights as they put on their survival suits and readied their life raft and EPIRB. MOONLIGHT MAID remained in contact with the Coast Guard until abandoned.

Seas at the time were 13 feet with 20-30 mph winds. The crew of four were rescued by Coast Guard helicopter and taken to Seward without report of injury. The crew was well prepared with EPIRB, radio, life raft, survival suits.

MOONLIGHT MAID went down with around 3,000 gallons of diesel. The Coast Guard is monitoring for debris and pollution and investigating the cause of the sinking.